Where We Belong
by NaleyWriter23
Summary: A James and Joy Fic: What happens when James shows up at one of Joy's concerts?
Joy lived for screaming fans and flashing lights draping over her as she danced across stage, singing from the bottom of her soul. There was no feeling like it.

It was pure, utter bliss.

She finished singing the last lyric to the song and opened her eyes, swallowing the endless sea of screaming fans. Most were young females with adjourning large grins and sparkling eyes, causing Joy's own smile to widen.

"How are you all doing tonight?" She shouted, loving the instant reaction and loudening decibels.

A small giggle emit from her lips as a group of teens screamed how much they loved her. After nearly fifteen years in the lime light, she'd never get used to the fan's immense adoration—not that it ever bothered her, but she simply couldn't believe how so many people looked up to her, idolized her. It was extremely gratifying, but at the end of the day, she was just like everyone else: she just happened to be living her dreams.

Her large brown eyes scanned the shadows of the crowd in attempt to fully digest the exhilarating feeling that swept through her veins. And maybe the slightest part of her, the part that would never openly admit it, was hoping the pair of blue eyes she hadn't been able to stop thinking about lately, would find hers.

No such luck.

She sighed inwardly, but smiled regardless. "Alright! So listen," she began, loving holding conversations with the fans, "I'm going to tell you a secret but you're going to have to promise to keep it."

Joy was met with more screaming, and laughed again. "I wrote a song about someone. Someone who means more to me than he'll ever know." She took a deep breath, gripping tightly onto the microphone, picturing his clear blue eyes and cocky smirk. "Believe it or not, sometimes I have a hard time saying the words I want to say, so instead I write music. This song is called 'Blue Moon and Fireworks,' and I wrote it about the one who got away. I'm sure you all can relate. So my advice to you is, if there's someone you care about, tell them before it's too late."

She inhaled deeply once more and took a seat on a stool in front of the mic. Her eyes snapped shut after picking up the guitar and strumming the opening chords, instantly flashing back to one of her last scenes of One Tree Hill.

 _The rain was cold but she couldn't care less. Giddiness ignited her bones as she pranced around, playfully running from James. They forgot the cameras were there. Mark, the director, told them to just do whatever they wanted—something they were extremely good at._

 _James was tickling her and she laughed wildly, feeling like a carefree child. It was almost like a dream: so magical._

 _But the feeling didn't last long. Right when James' tongue traced the outside of her lips as they embraced in a heated kiss, the director called cut. And that was it._

 _His clear blue eyes bore into her own as they shared a lust filled gaze._

 _They didn't need words. Their gazes said enough._

That was the moment she knew. Whatever feelings lingered from portraying Nathan and Haley, had finally broached the surface and it scared the hell out of Joy. She couldn't tell him. Especially not then. The show was over and she'd be lucky if she ever saw him again. Of course they had seen each other afterwards, but she could never act upon whatever she felt for him. So she ignored the erratic beating of her heart and it hurt like hell.

 _"_ _Blue moon and fireworks  
Shine on the water  
The colors that danced in your eyes  
This is the way I'll always remember you  
Kissing me under that shimmering sky"_

Joy finished the song and opened her eyes, once again met with the cheering faces of her fans.

"Thanks so much! You guys were great. I'll see you soon!" She bid a final farewell and ran off the stage, suddenly overcome by thirst. Finding her way to her dressing room, she pushed open the door and grabbed her water bottle, chugging it with a vengeance.

Her legs felt sore, so she took a seat at the vanity mirror, deciding to check her phone. There were multiple notifications from Twitter, and a few emails, but nothing important.

A sigh escaped from between her lips.

She loved her career, and one would think someone who was constantly on the road and meeting people could never feel so alone, but she did. It was times like these, when the shows ended and the crowded theaters trickled to an empty room when she never felt lonelier. Sure, she had her daughter waiting home, as well as her parents, but she missed being in love. She missed the taste of someone else's lips. She missed the feel of strong arms wrapping around her stomach, and stolen forehead kisses. She wanted cute goodnight calls, and flowers.

She was just tired of being alone.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't hear the knock on the door, and slightly jumped when the reflection of another person appeared in the mirror.

Joy blinked, sure she was dreaming again. It couldn't be… could it?

"Hi." The husky, familiar voice greeted with a shy smile. "You were amazing."

His blue eyes collided with hers in the mirror, but it was only when she heard his voice that she turned around and flung herself in his arms. "James! What are you doing here?"

He hugged her back tightly, not wanting to let go. It's been too long, and she felt so good. She smelt good too, he couldn't help but notice as his nose nestled in the scalp of her strawberry scented shampooed hair.

"I was in town filming and heard about how the famous Bethany Joy Lenz was playing at a local club so I decided to stop by. I hope you don't mind." He added sheepishly, pulling away from the hug to reveal a bouquet of purple and white flowers; if he remembered correctly, they were always her favorite.

An excited smile danced over her pink lips. "I'm so happy to see you." She whispered, wrapping her arms around him tightly. "Thank you for coming."

James grinned nervously. She looked beautiful, as always. "Are you kidding? I was so glad I could make it. You know how much I love watching you sing."

A light blush painted across her cheeks, glancing towards the flowers in his hands. "Are those for me?" Joy asked with a hopeful gleam in her eyes.

James wanted to punch himself for acting like a babbling buffoon. He already forgot to give her the flowers.

 _Way to go, idiot_. He mentally berated himself.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Here." He stuck out his hand and cleared his throat, watching as Joy grabbed the bouquet with a large smile and inhaled the fresh scent.

"You remembered?" She asked, referring to the fact they were her favorites.

Joy watched him nod and hugged him again, "You're too sweet, James. Thank you."

He shrugged softly, reveling in the softness of her touch. "Seriously Joy, you were incredible up there."

And she was. James always admired her talent. He didn't know anyone who could sing as well as she did. Her voice merely gave him the chills. Joy was always beautiful, but when she was on stage singing, he was absolutely mesmerized by her every move. And then there was that last song… he swore the breath in his lungs whooshed out of him like a popped balloon.

She reluctantly untangled herself from his embrace and smiled, proceeding to unknowingly knock the air out of him. "Thanks! I still can't believe you're here! How are you?"

"Good. Great." James smirked, eyeing her for the millionth time. "How've you been?"

Her eyes widened, and he felt himself nearly drown in the pool of chocolate orbs.

"Busy, but not too bad," she answered, her hand still wrapped around his bicep. "You look great, James."

He looked away nervously, not knowing why he was acting like a child around her. Well, he did know. It always happened. Just one look from her and he'd crawl into his own skin. She made him nervous, and even after the two beers he downed, his bones were still shaking.

"Thank you. You look good, too. Um, beautiful, actually." He mumbled.

Joy wanted to start dancing. Here, in her dressing room was James freakin' Lafferty! She felt silly for feeling like a fan girl, but gosh, he was unbelievably sexy and she needed holy water for the thoughts that plagued her mind. How she got through nine years of filming without ripping his clothes off, she'd never know. But here she was wanting to push him up against the wall and kiss the hell out of him.

It's been too long.

They shared one of their infamous heated gazes which could melt nearly anything.

"You wanna get out of here?" She asked before she could even comprehend the words blabbering from between her lips. "We could go to a bar or something and have a few drinks, you know, catch up, maybe?"

"Y-yeah, okay, sure." He stuttered, overcome with a sudden excitement.

A large smile spread over Joy's lips. "Okay, let me just grab my stuff and we can head out."

His eyes followed her form around the dressing room, watching as she discreetly traced her perfect lips with a vibrant red lipstick. Thoughts of smudging the lip paint clouded his mind.

Joy then grabbed his hand, intertwining her fingers with his and pulled him out of the room, overly cautious of their surroundings so no one would follow them. She wanted privacy for her rare alone time with her former co-worker.

Together they crawled along the busy streets of Seattle until they came across a sleepy bar. James looked down to find Joy's eyes already on his face, and he pulled the door open for her.

They wordlessly made their way to the bar and James ordered a Margarita for Joy and a beer for himself.

"You trying to get me drunk, Lafferty?" Joy questioned with a flirty lick of her lips.

"Maybe." He grinned mischievously, watching as she traced the rim of the glass with her finger.

….

Intended or not, Joy was drunk. He could tell by the way her laugh had nearly tripled in decibels over the past three hours. Not that he minded. He loved Joy's laugh. Better yet, he loved drunk Joy.

"What?" She asked with a drunken smile sloped over her fading red lips.

"Nothing." James shook his head, feeling somewhat of a buzz himself.

She reached across the small space between them and grabbed hold of his jean clad thigh. "Tell me!"

"Nothing, it's just…" his words trailed as he thought of what to say. "You're beautiful, Joy."

She giggled again and flipped her hair over her shoulder, "Oh, I know."

James chuckled, "I'm serious. You're easily the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

Joy felt her cheeks ignite with a flaming heat. "Stop it."

"You are. I've always been so overwhelmed by it. I-"

"What?" she prodded once he fell silent again. He was so shy, and it was absolutely adorable.

"It's stupid." He muttered, staring into the hole of his long necked beer bottle.

Joy pouted her lips, nudging his thigh again. "I bet it's not."

After inhaling a shaky breath, James met her curious eyes again, wondering what she was thinking in that particular moment. "It's just… when I was younger, you know, like the first few seasons of the show, I had this ridiculous crush on you and I knew I was so far out of my league but I couldn't help but wonder what it'd be like to have you."

He took a hard gulp of his sour beer, suddenly wishing it was Whiskey. He needed something stronger now that he'd basically confessed to Joy how he felt.

"James.." she spoke his name in a breathy whisper, wondering if this was all a dream, but desperately hoping it was a reality.

He shook his head, "I know, see, it was stupid. I shouldn't have said anything…"

"Stop it." Joy said. "It's not stupid and I am not out of your league. I don't know why you think so highly of me. You know more than anyone I'm not perfect."

His eyes collided with hers, and he took a bold step forward, scooting off of the bar stool. "You are to me."

Joy's breath hitched behind her throat. Again, she couldn't find the words she wanted to speak. They were lost somewhere between the erratic beating of her heart and enormous fluttering butterflies in the pit of her stomach.

"I was crazy about you." James' words continued to flow like a leaky faucet—hell, the words were more than just dripping, they were overflowing. He couldn't stop, even if he wanted to. "You were all I ever thought about. Mark would call cut and I didn't ever want to stop kissing you, Joy. It took every ounce of strength in me to pry my lips from yours because I knew you'd never feel the same way. You were so beautiful, and smart, and funny, I just… I've never known anyone like you before and I wanted you so much."

By now, tears were clotting behind Joy's eyes but no amount of blinking could dissipate the growing dampness.

"But then Michael showed up, and you always referred to me as 'Baby James' and I guess I just gave up. I buried my feelings for you so far deep, but they were still there, just not on the surface…"

"What about now?" Joy interrupted. "How do you feel right now?"

She watched as he licked his dry lips, feeling her heart flutter to the core of her bones. "I feel like I need to kiss you."

Joy nodded, unable to speak. Ever so slowly, James lowered his lips to hers, their breaths heavy and heated, and snapped their eyes shut.

His lips were exactly as she remembered; if not better. Oh how she missed him. Missed this.

They didn't care that they were in a noisy, crowded college town bar. For them, they were home.

Joy pushed herself up from the stool and wound her arms around his waist, pulling him closer to her aching chest. Wasting no time, she slid her tongue between his lips and moaned among the clinking and chattering background noise.

James couldn't help but smile at her dire urgency. Her lips danced in a frenzy over his own, but it was perfect. She was perfect.

Any feeling he buried, seeped through his lips and collided with her soul. There was no more hiding.

After a much needed air-break, they reluctantly pulled away and shared a tentative smile, hesitant to speak.

"That was…" Joy spoke breathlessly.

"…Yeah." James nodded, feeling almost dizzy from their heated kiss.

"God, I've missed you James." She was still in his arms, her fingers playing with the collar of his plaid shirt.

"I've wanted to do that for so long." He admitted.

Joy looked up and smiled, "I've wanted you to do that for so long."

His blue eyes lit up like the moon, "Seriously?"

"Mhmm." Joy giggled, "You have no idea. Ever since the show ended, I realized how much I cared about you."

"So that song? The one you sang at the club, it was about me?" His eyes continued to twinkle under the hazy lighting.

"Yes," Joy grinned, loving the way his smirk cockily stretched across his lips.

"Wow." He smiled, "I had no idea you felt that way."

"I didn't know either!" Joy said, still in shock from their electrifying kiss.

"Do you, um,… still feel that way?" He asked nervously.

Joy giggled, "Lately, you're all that I can think about. I see pictures of you and my heart stops. You're pretty sexy, you know that?"

James smirked, "Oh yeah? I can say the same about you."

"James…" Joy whispered in his ear, "I want you. I feel the same way. I hope it's not too late but I have a serious crush on you and I've wanted you for so-"

He cut her off with another kiss, this time, he pushed his tongue roughly over hers, making another moan escape between the air.

"James…" She mumbled again.

"Yeah?"

"Let's go back to my hotel room."

"Are you sure?" He asked breathlessly, unable to hide the eager smile.

"Mhmm, like I said. I have a serious crush on you."

"Oh really?" James questioned with a flirty grin, "That's good because I have a crush on you, too."

Joy ran her tongue seductively over her lips, "Well what the hell are you waiting for? Let's go back to my room."

James nodded feverishly and grabbed her hand before paying their bar tab and practically running out the door. Joy mumbled the address of her hotel as they hailed a cab and continued to make out in the back seat. The driver cleared his throat once they reached their destination and James smiled embarrassedly as he handed him cash.

Joy was sucking on his neck, as he tried to get out of the cab, and he nearly tripped over himself.

"You okay?" She giggled, also tripping.

It was then when James remembered she was drunk. "Joy, are you sure you want this? I mean, you've been drinking and I don't want to take advantage…"

Joy stopped her ministrations on the middle of the sidewalk and smiled. "James, I may have had a few drinks but I know what I'm doing, and I can tell you that I've never wanted someone as much as I want you right now."

As if on cue, the skies opened up and a clang of thunder shook the sky. Seconds later, it was pouring.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" James shouted, laughing hysterically alongside the petite singer.

Joy giggled and kissed him freely, smiling against his lips. "This night is pretty perfect, don't you think?"

James wrapped his arms around her waist and nodded as the rain continued to soak them. "Definitely."

Together they stood outside the hotel for what felt like hours in the pouring rain, making out, and not caring about anything other than the fact that they were finally home: in each other's arms, right where they belong.


End file.
